A disabled mum has told how she had to flee her home with her nine-week-old baby after a suspected arson attack.

Michelle Davis said she, her baby, her three-year-old daughter and her husband fled out of the back door after a nearby shed burned down in the early hours on the Fairmead estate in Melton.

Michelle, of Blenheim Walk, said: “There was a loud banging on the door that woke us up.

“We opened the front door to see a police officer standing there telling us to get out of the house.

“Behind him you could the flames shooting into the night sky.

“He said: ‘I think you had better go out of the back door - and quickly.’

“The shed is only feet away from our front door. It was terrifying.”

Ms Davis, who suffers from arthritis and has to use walking sticks, said she now sleeps downstairs in case there is another fire.

The 37-year-old spoke out about the attack on July 8 after it was announced there is to be a public meeting in Melton about the rise in crime in the town. Leicestershire Crime Commissioner Lord Willy Bach made the announcement after he visited the town this week.